Philosophy Discussion Forums

Please post all introductions in this forum. Tell us how you found the philosophy forums, what interests you about philosophy, and a little about you, such as your age, where you live, what you do for a living, etc.

I generally don't participate in these sorts of things, as I prefer to rely on my own studies and logic rather than on groups of other people. However, I'm coming to respect the group-thinking concept, so I decided to search out a forum where I could discuss and read about philosophical topics.

Philosophy has always been a subject close to my heart, the art of asking and answering questions is something as natural to me as breathing or blinking. As a child, this practice threatened to tear apart my little mind. Thinking about concepts such as eternity and death caused me such panic. Writing this now I am 17, 18 by June, and no longer suffer mental breakdowns trying to think about such things. It's for the best since my mind has only become a louder and more chaotic place since then.

The concepts I deal with most often usually involve meaning, especially since I've learned that not everything has enough to bother worrying and thinking about. I also deal in paradoxes, being it that so far as I have seen, embracing the paradoxical nature of things is easier than living in a world of blacks and whites.

At this time, I am looking at a career in Cybersecurity and will be pursuing the precursive degree at a technical college in the fall. I chose that specific field based on a handful of positive statistics. First and foremost, thanks to the lack of trained workers in that field here in the US of A, college graduates have a great chance of getting snatched up right out of college into a job with good pay and stability. These are both things one should have if, like me, you plan on pursuing other studies later on in life. It's not impossible to pursue without this foundation, it's just much more difficult. In the future, I'd like to study everything I possibly can. Everything from Human Anatomy to Quantum Theory is on my list of things to do and I'll be damned if I don't learn everything I can during the last 43-103 (If I'm lucky) years of my life.

While the Sciences have captured my heart, I still have feelings for my earliest passion, the Arts. I'm terrible at actual art, being it that I just end up getting frustrated and having to cry for a bit to get back to normal. Music is my biggest and most secret love. I've been singing since I was quite young and I've always wanted to pick up various instruments, though I can only play the flute at this time. My next big artistic passion lies in physical prowess. It's often considered less of an art, but I find nothing but beauty in martial arts, freerunning, and gymnastics. There are many other smaller passions thrown about under the name of "art" that I want to get into at some point, such as dancing, writing, and even calligraphy.

Some other things I enjoy: Skiing, horseback riding, collecting interesting objects, and, most importantly, reading. I blow through books like a large meteor through the atmosphere; swiftly and with enough force to wipe out a small country. I started reading around age 4 with those little scholastic books, you know, Horton Hears a Who and The Cat in the Hat and such. Fiction and fantasy books by writers such as Piers Anthony and Robin Hobb have inspired my mind as I matured as a reader. I remember going to the library back when I was around 12 and dragging home a pile of 10 or more books from the young adults' section for that week's reading. I took a several-year-long break there due to some... unfortunate happenings, but have picked the habit back up now that I'm back on top of things again.

My goals in life are the opposite of being realistic or simple. I like to put it as so: I want to be a Scholar, a Modern Renaissance Man, and a Jack of All Trades. As I stated earlier, my interests embrace a range of sciences and arts, but I also deal with practical and non-practical skills alike. Things such as scuba diving, fishing, hunting, wingsuiting, piloting, carpentry, wiring, etc... are all present on the list of things I'd like to learn. Not to mention that I'd like to pick up some other languages as well. You might recall I said that I realize that not everything has enough meaning to be cared about, and you would be right. Most of these things are completely and utterly meaningless, however, this is where my belief of embracing the paradox comes in. Most things hold little meaning to me, but I feel as though they can still be worth doing. Strange logic? I agree, but it's just how my brain works.

I hope you're all prepared to deal with my nonsense, no one else in my life was, but maybe you guys are different.

I also deal with practical and non-practical skills alike. Things such as scuba diving, fishing, hunting, wingsuiting, piloting, carpentry, wiring, etc... are all present on the list of things I'd like to learn. Not to mention that I'd like to pick up some other languages as well.

So, this is, in fact, a list of skills you do not currently have, which makes me wonder what you mean when you say you "deal" with them.

Most things hold little meaning to me, but I feel as though they can still be worth doing. Strange logic? I agree, but it's just how my brain works.

Bravo. You appear to be (naturally?) following the way of the ancient Greek philosophers, who are alleged to have advocated the development of the whole man, in which philosophers also wrestled etc., the concept presumably being that a philosopher should have experience with many forms of self-expression in order to be a better philosopher. I'm guessing that the philosopher in those days who just spent time in his study was not admired. Aristotle had his team out walking regularly, "perambulating philosophers" I think they were called.